Mike, here's another idea to complicate things, scale based on position. Here's why; I think I could be convinced that Randy Moss at the 1500-2000 is worthy of 1st round compensation, while Corey Dillon at the 2000-2500 range is not. I cannot phathom a quarterback ever going for over 2000 (well, close maybe), but I think we can agree that if a Manning, Culpepper, etc, was not matched in RFA, they would be the kind of player that would be worthy of 1st round compensation.
How about this idea (just throwing it out for conversation, not really a proposal since i haven't thought through the details), but how about a system like the NFL restricted free agent process. There could be three or four levels of tenders available to offer to a RFA. A 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th round tender, each with different opening salary bids. That puts a little more onus on the team offering the tender to be willing to take the player back, and makes it a little riskier if they want to get a 1st rounder out of it. Look at RBs for example. If you want to get a 1st round compensatory pick if you decide to not match an RB, you give him a 1st round tender, with an opening bid at 2250 (or whatever level we decide). If he gets bid up from there, and you don't match, then you get a 1st rounder. however, if you've misjudged the market, and no one ups him, you have to pay him the 2250.
The way I like this better is that there is more risk involved, and it would be harder for a team to get something for nothing. Say a team has three stud RBs, two under contract and one expired. Normally, since he won't want that player back, or can't afford to bring him back, he won't RFA him, or he only will because he think's he'll go for a higher salary. Under the original proposal, we're going to reward him with a potentially high draft pick, when he never even considered bringing him back. If we have different levels of tenders, there is more risk involved in getting the compensation, and that to me makes it a little more palatable.
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